From the looks of things, these two Mustangs are going to be making riding and packing season happen this year, and it’s time to get them out and about for some team building. Making the best of the situation at hand and moving forward… What else can we do?
Salt Wells WY gelding Tiny and Devil’s Garden filly Petrie went on their first longer ride together on a beautiful spring afternoon. It was Tiny’s first outing in the hackamore (I had said I’d wanted to do a re-start of sorts, so here we are) and Petrie’s first time with a good (and heavier) riding saddle.
Walk, trot, lope, climbing up and down steep slopes, crossing water, waiting together while I’m off doing something else… The pair did well. Tiny is strong enough to convince Petrie to keep going when she’d rather plant her feet (working the Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy training horses off of him here lately has given him the confidence to do that) and Petrie’s calm, mostly easy-going attitude is good for Tiny who sometimes worries about life.
Petrie has worn the pack saddle and carried tires on it. She’s only 3yo and I don’t like to put weight on them too early. I’ve ground driven and sat on her but haven’t ridden her yet. If she ends up being my pack horse this year I’ll be keeping the load light and the time she carries it short. She didn’t bat an eye at the heavier saddle and flopping stirrups. Time to take her out with the pack saddle soon.
Tiny is becoming more confident, soft and responsive in his old age (he’s in his teens). Getting taken off of the back burner has been good for the big guy. Never in a million years would I have thought he’d ever be my main riding horse, or that I’d be riding him in a hackamore and not feel like I’m going to die. I’ve stepped up my game with him and he’s responded in kind. While he’s still quirky and goofy, he’s also impressed me with the situations he thrives in and handles well.
He’s incredibly sure-footed, has a lot of energy and grit for his built and age, is more patient than my mares with the horses I pony off of him, and handles dogs underfoot, questionable footing, wind that all but blows you out of the saddle and riding in the dark like a champ. Tiny is wearing a bosal I brought home from the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko earlier this year and a The Colorful Cowgirl mecate. I’d like to see if I can get that hackamore to come up a bit higher on his nose. His noggin is significantly larger than the other horses’ (as is the rest of him, hence the name), and he may yet need a bosal of his own, we’ll see.
